Kitten issue

Question
Hi,

We just bought a kitten from the pet shop yesterday.  He had slightly weeping eyes and the pet shop told me he was probably allergic to the dust in his cage in the shop. When we brought him home, they are worse, he also now sneezes a lot, has a scab on his nose and slightly tight breathing.  We have a 2 year old cat that was a stray and has lived with us over a year now.  Could this reaction be due to the stress of the older cat not yet accepting him and hissing at him whenever he see's him?

Many thanks,
Layna Hodgson

Answer
Layna,

It sounds to me like the kitten has an upper respiratory infection, but I am not a vet.  I would get an appointment for your new kitten with your vet as soon as they open Monday morning.  

If the kitten is still eating, this is a good thing, but it does not take a kitten long to get dehydrated should it go off its food.

Yes, the stress could have exacerbated the situation, and, I do not think it is necessarily allergies. After all, why is the kitten in a cage which is so dusty it would tick off the kitten's allergies?

One thing that may help the eyes in the meantime is to go get a bottle of Opticon-A eye drops (Bausch & Lomb), and put a drop in each eye a few times a day until you can see your vet.  If the kitten begins to dehydrate, you can give the kitten a good meat baby food (only ingredients are strained meat and meat broth or gravy, no added slat or garlic).  If the kitten takes to the baby food, you can make a "soup" of half baby food and half unflavored Pedialyte and see if the kitten will lap that up. Remember, if cats cannot smell because there little noses are stopped up, they often do not eat.

So, get the kitten checked out by your vet as soon as you can on Monday!!!!! If your vet gives you antibiotic ophthalmic drops, use those instead of the Opticon-A.

As to your 2 year old accepting the kitten, all will go even better if the kitten is feeling better.

Please let me know what happens.

Best regards... Norm.